its 40th anniversary. then discussing the impact of vice presidential debates in this election. at 8:30 eastern, guy harrison, from the congressional committee, and robby mook, from the democratic congressional campaign committee. ""washington journal" is next. host: let the countdown begins. our cameras are outside centre college in danville, kentucky, the site of the only debate between vice president joe biden and republican congressman paul ryan. we have live coverage beginning tonight at 7:00 p.m. eastern. then the two will square off at 9:00 p.m. eastern for 90 minutes with a debate toasted by

martha raddatz. following the debate we will get your take on what you heard. first we want your thoughts on how important is tonight's presidential debate and have vice-presidential debate mattered in the past? here are the numbers -- remember, you can send us your questions or comments via social media. 's will begin with "usa today " headline --

how important our vice presidential debates? larry is a democrat in mississippi. caller: good morning. the debates should not be that important. it is their policies. romney and ryan's policies will destroy the middle class. host: what do you want to hear from vice president joe biden tonight to the congressman? caller: i want him to hold romney and ryan to their policies. that is what matters. that is what will destroy the middle class. they are changing their policies

and fooling a lot of people. host: how did you see the first presidential debate and president obama's performance? caller: president obama admits that he did not perform well. what they have to do from now on is make the republican candidates hold to their policies and not let them get away with saying anything. host: people are saying the pressure is on vice president joe biden, that he needs to make up for president obama's performance. caller: i don't agree. he needs to put their policies against romney and ryan. host: let's hear from james in missouri, an independent. everybody wants your vote. what do you think?

caller: vice-president biden need to bring a calculator to the debate so that paul ryan can show us his budget. host: you think that will be one of those moments? caller: that's what needs to do. if they give enough time where he could show his budget instead of dodging the question all the time. host: you sound like you are voting for president obama. caller: yes. host: erick is a democrat in georgia. caller: every time ryan gets up there and they tried to lie, just like romney told lies the whole time he was up there. president obama needs to grill

romney on a 47% comment and ask him about his opinion on abortion. and about the budget. them to what they said. every time they tell a lie, call them a lawyer. host: you sound passionate. does this debate tonight matter to you? we lost him. let's go to barbara, a republican in georgia. caller: hello. host: what do you think about tonight's debate and have a vice-presidential debate smattered in the past? caller: it's very important. god forbid something does happen to the president, he becomes the leader of our entire country and how things are run. we have to look at the records

and take this very seriously. people don't think enough of the vice president and set him aside and kind of like you are a joke. they are not. health issues or whatever. if something happens to the president, they are going to become the leader of this great nation. people need to take that into consideration. when they listen to these debates tonight, is this the man you want to lead the country should something happen? host: do you feel confident about paul ryan? caller: as a matter of fact, i do. host: a little more from the newspapers --

our program begin the 7:00 eastern tonight. we have a preview and to get your thoughts on the debates. then the two square off at 9:00 for 90 minutes. and we will get your thoughts afterwards. you can watch on c-span1, which is a split screen of the two candidates. and on c-span2 you can watch a head-on shots of whoever is speaking. the financial times says --

getting your take on how important the vice presidential debate is. if you loved politics and you want to see what other people are saying, tonight while you're watching television and you have a laptop nearby, go to c- span.org/debates and you can follow along with others who love politics. you can discuss and share with others streamed full coverage of tonight's. you can look at last week's debate as well and then follow

the conversation from other political junkies. st. paul, minnesota, independent caller, john. caller: good morning. the vice-presidential debate, i definitely feel they are very important. you are talking about the person who could become the next president if something happens. you mentioned mondale and the 1976 debate and his having an impact on that race. what makes this a vice- presidential debate more interesting is that joseph biting is likely to say something that could harm obama. he has a history of doing that. it will be important to see how he handles his role as the aggressor and how paul ryan backs up his tracks. the worst thing that could happen in this debate is joe biden harms obama.

it's almost a consensus that romney has surged since the last date. host: now to a democratic caller, bob, in ohio. caller: thanks for taking my call. good morning. i have been trying hard to get in touch with c-span. i would like to see if you could address the vice- president. his son just came back from iraq. i would like to know when mitt romney's five sons fought for our country. he said he would not apologize to any other country for their mistakes, but he does not have

anything to sacrifice. his sons are not going over there representing us. he has not served in war, nor his sons. when they say flip-flopping, that means you are lying. d -- i'm sorry,pe romney has flip-flopped on this and that. these things are definitely important and i appreciate you asking the vice-president could he not bring this up to ryan. host: we will keep talking about this for the next 30 minutes, how important our vice presidential debates. one caller mentioned to the debate between senator walter mondale and senator bob dole --

sorry, vice-president walter mondale and senator bob dole from october 15, 1976. [video clip] >> senator dole has richly earned his reputation as a -- man tonight by implying that world war ii and the korean war were democratic wars. does he mean to suggest to the american people that there was a partisan differences over our involvement in the war to fight not see germany? -- nazi germany? that was from 1976, which shaped the presidential debate. we are asking what you think about tonight's state in danville, kentucky, at centre college? here's a look inside the norton center. it opened in 1973 as the regional arts center. it was renamed the norton center

for the arts in 1982 in honor of james morton norton, a former college trustee and patron of the arts. 85,000 square foot complex, houses two pewters as well as other exhibition stages and classrooms. the college was founded in 1819 and located in danville, kentucky, 30 miles southwest. of southwest the campus is 152 acres and 1300 students are enrolled at the college. tonight's debate picks of the 9:00 p.m. eastern. we will take your comments and your thoughts before that at 7:00 p.m. eastern time on c- span. mike is a republican in maryland. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. i don't pink this debate it is necessarily important.

but i do not think it will be interesting. vice-president biden has a rare combination of ego and desperation at this point. he will be very much in attack mode. that should not bode well for him, but we will see. i don't think vice presidential debates necessarily impact elections. i am curious to see how hot it will affect palooza afterwards. president obama did pretty poorly in the first debate, and saying mitt romney lied. i am really waiting to see how vice-president biden response tonight, knowing that he is somewhat desperate, and to see how the debate is spun

afterwards by partisans on both sides. host: this is from the washington post this morning -- caller: i tend to agree with that. dan quayle was probably damaged during his state - his debate. and sarah palin probably had some issues going into the debate, but it probably did not help. paul ryan is prone to making

mistakes. and vice president biden makes gaffes so frequently and they get overlooked. host: that was mike, a republican. we are taking your comments on facebook as well. we posted this question to you last night. people are saying -- you can post your comments there as well as on twitter. while you're watching the debate tonight, go to c- span.org/debates and you can follow the conversation from other political junkies. you can join in and share your thoughts. potomac, maryland, independent caller.

caller: i would like vice- president biden to bring to people's attention how mr. obama saved the car industry and stop to this country from going into a deep depression, by saving the banks. someone from mit said yesterday create $12's plan to million -- 12 million jobs is just wishful thinking and obama's plan is grounded in reality. how can a fast-talking salesman like mr. romney change people's minds and changed their vote? should they not be looking deeper and researched the facts? just talkingy that

about energy policy can in any way to create 3 million jobs. you have to look beyond what they are saying and look for the truth, because it's nothing but a snake oil salesman talking. host: do you want to hear them go back and forth tonight interrupting each other or do you want a moderator to step in more and try to control the environment? caller: i would definitely like to see the moderator not let them ramble on. host: so you want time constraints? caller: yes, definitely. i was so disappointed that people are not looking beyond words, because anyone can say anything. host: this was a style section of the washington post this

morning about the role of the moderator -- that was about the moderator. the washington times this morning as a piece thishow

president obama attended mark their ballotss -- attended martha raddatz's mary stuart ex- husband and some are concerned that she will be biased tonight. now a call from a democratic viewer. caller: my take on this is i hope that joe biden acts exactly like president obama. president obama and acted like he was the president. he could not be rattled by mr. mitt romney. and i hope that vice-president biden does the same, and i think he will. ryan just is not old enough. he does not have enough experience to be vice president

or president. neither one of them should be president. host: this is the washington post with this headline -- caller: i don't think that he was too polite. i think he acted like the president. host: he acted presidential? caller: yes, very much. i was proud. host: you want to see the same thing from the vice-president tonight? caller: yes, but i want him to put ryan in his place. host: now from louisville, a republican, andrew. is tonight's debate important? caller: i think it is. i was a democrat many years.

not too happy with obama's policies with the health care happy and to be forced to pay for health insurance that i don't want. i don't think there's anything joe biden can say that will change my vote back to obama. i was a democrat many years and am now a registered republican and i'm very happy about that. host: there are couple headlines this morning about mitt romney ever since the debate is trying to capitalize on what people saw and heard in the debate and that he is in the center. you like that? caller: i do. i think mitt romney will be -- he said he will do away with

obamacare. i think they will carry that out. i am praying and hoping the best for mitt romney to be the best president he can possibly be. host: we will keep talking about this, getting your thoughts on the vice-presidential debate and whether they matter. first, the world section of usa today, testimony before the house government and oversight committee --

recovered yesterday's hearing. if your interested in watching, go to our web site c-span.org to get more. in the "washington times" this morning --

these e-mails were obtained by the washington times. and an update on a story we told you about yesterday, a high court hearing oral arguments about the affirmative action case. the university of texas at austin being challenged by abigail fisher about how they admit their students. this is what richard wolfe and mary beth write -- if you are interested in the

audio of the oral arguments, it will be released by the court on friday after 1:00 p.m. c-span.org to find out when we will be airing that on friday. jimmy is an independent scholar. where are you from? caller: north carolina. host: what do you think about the vice-presidential debate? caller: well, i think the vice presidential debate matters. the politics have become like a consumer item in how we package the product and substance does not really matter. everything that happens before the election counts. i wish the american people would just look and see what happened

with the the previous republican administration and look at all the things that the present republican nominee supported during the bush administration and get an idea of the things he will implement if he wins. now, president obama is trying to fix what the previous administration did. it does not happen overnight. in the process at, people want things right now, they want everything fixed immediately. that to the vice- presidential debate. caller: >> the vice-presidential debate definitely matters.

i don't think vice-president biden should let them get away with anything. i am an independent. i have voted republican and i have voted democrat, but i don't think he should let them get away with anything, because the slightest thing he lets them get away with, the people with weak minds will vote that way. host: you brought up the past eight years. paul ryan at a recent campaign stop in new hampshire was talking about the threat of deficit spending. it's probably something you might hear tonight at the vice- presidential debate. here's a preview. [video clip] >> we cannot keep borrowing 36 cents of every dollar our government spends. we cannot keep the federal reserve doing what. we cannot keep looking our children in the eye, knowing that we are going to give them a

diminished future because we are spending their money today. it's a very simple idea. mitt romney and i will bring it to washington. we've got to stop spending money we don't have. we must cut spending. we must get this balanced budget. we must get this debt under control. this debt not only hurts our economy today with the threat of higher interest rates and a losing a dollar and much higher tax rates. we know that we are giving the students here at this academy, our children and grandchildren, a lower standard of living. we've never done that in this country before. host: vice-presidential candidate paul ryan in new hampshire at a recent event. here's what you might hear from the vice-president joe biden at tonight's debate. this is from a recent campaign stop in florida. [video clip] >> there is no quit in america,

folks. ladies and gentlemen, that's why i know i'm not the only one who was offended to hear governor romney write off nearly half the country is in his statement about 47% of the people being dependent. if you read the book congressman ryan has written with two other leading young members of the republican party, they talk about -- the title of the book is "young guns," and they talk about this culture of dependency in america without acknowledging that all those people -- of the 47%, 82% to pay federal taxes, the remaining 10% are seniors on

social security who don't have to pay taxes. host: inside the centre college in danville, kentucky, the place of tonight's vice presidential debate, there is the stage. the last time vice-presidential candidates debated at centre college it was a game of wits. "thrill in the ville." the persone says - sitting in the other chair on the stage will be the moderator, martha raddatz. here's a recent tweet from her. she is standing --

we will go to barbara in missouri, a democratic caller. caller: from gerardo. as important as whatever they say tonight or what the moderator does, it is also the review afterwards by the media, by c-span and others. if the only review is based on style and looks and a forceful voice and no attention to the intent of what they say, then the debate means nothing. the fact is i believe biden will force ryan to defend his and ,omney's notion that the poor the old, and the parlous should sacrifice for the so-called budget.

we need to recognize that romney is a war umonger. you can tell from what he has said so far. he feels the rich should run the country and the rest of us are here to serve them. . people need . people need to get out and vote. host: there was a previous vice- presidential debate in danville between joe lieberman and detainee. here's a poster from that time. richard is a republican from maryland. caller: thank you, greta. c-span is definitely a national service. i am thankful for c-span for a minority like me to be able to voice my little opinion. my take on the vice-presidential

debate is very important. they can set the stage for the next debate for the president of the united states. some of the points i would like ryan to remind people is that when you look at the obamacare that nancy pelosi has said let's pass it and we will read it later, i wonder if president obama read through the whole law. the state of the union address he says illegal aliens will not be covered under obamacare, but in the actual law it says they will be covered. i wonder if they did not have the tape about romney's

statement on the 47%, what are their other talking points? remember that romney was the governor of massachusetts and 87% of the people in his state were democrats. so he is a man for all the people. he brought out the best from massachusetts. he is not a salesman. president obama is a better speaker ben mitt romney. host: ok, richard we will leave it there. there's a poll on the front page of the new york times --

those are likely voters in the battleground states. some other polls for you. this is also from the new york times in the paper this morning and the front page of the wall street journal -- it's virtually a dead heat between the two candidates. 45% for governor romney in 8%.rida and 4

our topics for all of you this morning, how important are the vice presidential debates? in little rock, arkansas, an independent. go ahead. caller: i commend mr. ryan for his personal achievements. i would be asking whether these two gentlemen have signed a pledge of mr. grover norquist. to what extent should an american president pledged his allegiance to an individual? if a president or vice president would sign a pledge to somebody,

that's what i would ask? host: in cleveland, ohio, democratic caller annette. caller: i think it will reflect not only the views of those debating but also the views of the president and mr. romney. i would like to hear mr. biden press mr. ryan on his vow your program, because there are a lot of children who receive medicare. my son was handicapped from birth. the voucher and has be program will force him to go out and look for a private provider. and i would like to know, under the voucher program, how will the medication be paid for? sometimes it's up to $1,500 a month. so i would like to hear vice- president biden grill him on

this. host: regina is a republican caller now. caller: you are talking about the debate. they keep talking about the 47% commented that mitt romney made. i hope they will debate that tonight, because i did not realize it was 47%. but i have been married 41 years to my husband and we are middle- class. we pay our taxes every year. at the end of the year we have to pay more taxes. i worked in a tax preparation office as a receptionist, got to hear all the people and i saw so many people that came in and paid maybe $300 income tax and get the government gave them $8,000 or

$10,000 back. throughout my marriage we had to struggle. if my kids needed braces, we had to struggle and pay for the braces. whereas my neighbor, they got free housing. if their kids needed braces, they just got medicaid. if they needed food, they got food stamps. it was very frustrating for us to struggle and struggle and see everybody else getting a free ride around us. i did not realize it was 47%. but i knew a lot of people even in my own family that live on government subsidies. they know how to work the system and to get more. host: many have said that will be an issue in tonight's vice- presidential debate at 9:00 p.m. eastern. we will have a debate preview

at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. here are more political headlines -- so the law will not have an impact on this year's election. and on the race for who controls the senate, here is "usa today" -- one of those seats is massachusetts, where scott brown is trying to win another term. elizabeth warren, a democrat running against him. we covered their debate.

if you want to see that, c- span.org. we covered many house and senate races and those debates are on our web site. that brings up a roundtable discussion we will have later on around 8:30 a.m. eastern time, talking to rent two executives of the national republican congressional committee and the democratic campaign congressional committee. those two in charge of house races and overseeing that. we will get a take on where is the balance of the house, later on. and an update on the meningitis situation. here's the washington post -- and another quick one, obama nominates a new commander for

u.s. and nato forces in afghanistan -- we have time for one last phone call, james in indianapolis, an independent. what you think about tonight's debate? caller: it's a very important debate for simple reasons. one, it seems the republican party is trying to bait and switch and is not being held accountable by fact checkers or moderators'. joe biden is the type of guy who will give mr. ryan the time he needs to press the numbers and simply hold his feet to the fire. that's all that really needs to happen. i truly believe that what the

republicans are trying to do is misrepresent what they would do if they were in office. i am totally confused how people said romney had a great debate when everybody knows he was misrepresenting kings and flip-floping -- misrepresenting things. i would like to think our electorate is not that naive. a lot of people that are not black do not want to voice their support for barack obama as strongly as tea party people and republicans who are against him. i believe obama will begin again and the democratic party will pick up a senate seat. bill clinton spoke in

indianapolis and exposed the tea party rhetoric in what mike murdoch wanted to do. it's not acceptable to the american people. i do believe the republican party is trying to trick everybody and the press is somewhat compliant because they know when these things are not true. host: as we said, in our last hour-and-a-half we will focus on the key races in the house. we will have the executive directors of the national congressional committees from the democratic and republican parties. princeton professor julian zelizer r will be with us next to talk about the importance of past debates. that's next as we continue our conversation about tonight's vice presidential debate in danville, kentucky. there is the stage. live coverage this morning and

continuing throughout. tonight we will have a preview program at 7:00 p.m. eastern and the debate at 9:00 p.m. we will be right back. >[video clip] >> this government has maintained the closest surveillance of the soviet military buildup on the island of cuba. within the past week, unmistakable evidence has established the fact that a series of offensive missile sites are now in preparation on that imprisoned island. the purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide a nuclear strike capability against the western hemisphere. >> do you, ambassador, denied that the u.s.s.r. has faced and is facing immediate and intermediate range missiles and sites in cuba? yes or no?

don't wait for the translation. >> 13 days in october 1962, live sunday from the j.f.k. presidential library and museum, historians, scholars, filmmakers and journalists on the 50th anniversary of the cuban missile crisis, starting at 12:30 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span3. host: there is a live picture this morning inside centre college in danville, kentucky, where tonight's presidential debate will take place. jill biden is nearly 70 years old and is facing off against 42-year-old to republican challenger paul ryan of wisconsin. martha raddatz of abc news moderating the debate. we are talking about that this morning with julian zelizer of princeton university. let me begin with, what has the

impact been of past presidential debates? have they mattered? guest: they have. gallo published a recent poll showing none of the vice presidential debates since 1976 have really shifted opinion or votes in any significant way for the ticket and hand. -- gallup. it mattered much more for the candidates in their future careers than for the actual ticket. host: do you think that still applies throughout the night debate, giving everybody is saying vice-president by the need to make up for president obama's performance during the first debate and that this is paul ryan's first time in the national spotlight after being chosen by the candidate? guest: the question is will the vice-presidential debate be different, will it have a bigger impact than any we have seen since the mid-1970s?

you never want to say that it will not. debates can take on new significance, and in part because of the impact that the first debated have come at least in shifting how we are discussing the romney/obama battle. it is possible more people will tune in to see ryun and biden face-off. a poor performance can fuel the kind of narrative that we had in recent days about a romney come back and about obama struggling to gain his putting. if we just look at the record, it's unlikely that this will have the kind of significant impact on the electoral college votes that some think it might. host: in today's washington there's this --

do you agree? guest: that's true. if you look at the history, you remember the moments when candidates really looked bad, when there was a quick remark that was made where opponents simply stand there and often their career is harmed as a result. i think that's the key. you don't want a vice presidential debate like that. we remember when dan quayle compared himself to john f. kennedy in 1988. and the democratic vice presidential candidate lloyd bentsen, much more senior than him, said that he knew kennedy

and that dan quayle was no john kennedy. that was an embarrassing moment for dan quayle. in that case, dan quayle was on the winning ticket, but it was a loss for him in the long term and it became a way in which people always questioned whether to be the graves acroitas president. host: some point to and the job that and dick cheney did for george w. bush's presidency when he was able to criticize john edwards. can you talk about that moment and what it did for that campaign? \ guest: yes, that is an important comparison. at that time, donna edwards was the darling of the democratic party. he was seen as very charismatic , up-and-coming democrats who had the ability to look good on television and to appeal to the debates of the democratic party. -- john edwards.

he was the fresh face and went on to debate against vice president dick cheney, who was much more senior to him and much less charismatic, but dick cheney was effectivel. he really question whether john edwards was a serious politician. he made the remark that it was the first time he actually met john edwards, which turned out not to be true, but it was a way of saying edwards does not take its politics seriously, that he likes to go in front of the camera but is never back in the senate. and they tried to use the issue of whether the vice-president's daughter was gay and dick cheney quickly dismissed him and thank him for saying nice things about his family and moved on. what dick cheney did was make this young and exciting

candidate looked young and inexperienced. my guess is there are a lot of democrats who want biden to do that? bry -- to ryan. host: we noted earlier that there's a 28-year age gap between the two tonight, joe biden versus paul ryan. that's our topic this morning. we were just talking about that moment in 2004. i want to show our viewers that and then come back and get some thoughts from our viewers about tonight's vice presidential debate and pass debates. [video clip] >> mr. vice president/ >> i want to go back to the last comment. the reason they keep trying to attack halliburton is they want to obscure their own recor

senate record that's not very distinguished. almost 70% of the meetings with the intelligence committee you have missed. you've missed many key votes on tax policy, medicare reform. if your home town newspaper has taken to calling g you toone. you've got one of the worst attendance records in the u.s. senate. i am the president of the senate and the presiding officer. i am in the senate most times when they are in session. the first time i met you was when you walk on the stage tonight. with respect to israel and palestine, the suicide bombers and partly generated by sadaam hussein, paid $25,000 to the families of the suicide bombers. one of the reasons we don't have as many suicide attacks today in israel as in the past is because he is no longer in business.

we have been strong supporters of'the israeli s -- israeli president and put it in place a policy that is said we would establish and support a palestinian state. first there has to be a plan and there has to be reform in the palestinian system. host: -- >> that was a distortion. >> he was one of the members of the house, one of 10 to vote against headstart and one of it 4 2 voted against banning plastic weapons that can pass through metal detectors. he voted against the department of education. he voted against funding for meals on wheels for seniors. he voted against a holiday for

martin luther king. he voted against a resolution calling for the release of nelson mandela in south africa. it's amazing to hear him criticize my record or john kerry's . >> his record speaks for itself and it's not very distinguished. host: we are talking about vice- presidential debates with tonight's debate in danville, ky. what matters? and you saw a moment from 2004 and from our archives. if your interested in watching that and other moments, c- span.org. professor, tonight when viewers are watching the split screen of the debate and they see vice president joe biden and a younger paul ryan, what will the impact been? in the shot from 2004, you get

the split screen dynamic, but tonight people will get that. calguest: the split screen is very significant in terms of the debate. when obama and running scared off, the split screen did a lot of damage to obama. it was not necessarily what obama said, but what people noticed was how he responded when romney was speaking, the way in which she looked at his notes and not the camera. the way that he would not look at mitt romney and it's all created a perception of someone who was disengaged, not excited, somehow not in the game. i think that will be very important today in this debate. i think joe biden will have to be very careful. his great strength is he says what's on his mind. his great weakness is he says what's on his mind. part of that is not just about how the talks but how he will respond.

he does not want to look condescending to paul ryan. he does not want to smile too much. i think his body language will be important so he does not give ryan more material than he already has. chances are that it biden will really go after him in aggressive fashion. he has no problem digging into his opponent's. he's a very good debater. ryan will have to keep his composure. it's important that he does not look angry or look like he's getting at as joe biden -- that he does not look like he's getting mad as joe biden tries to provoke him. host: the first caller, independent

caller: if you look at the presidential debate and how it went, it was all right. he did not perform well. remember, we live in europe and what ever obama suggests, even have the does a passing way in the debate, in europe, they work it out. it is like they are waiting to hear what he says as leader of the free world. he is the president of the free world. he is the leader of the free world. hetever he says, that's why says -- they say he performed very poorly because he never mentioned anything and we expect the vice-president, joe biden, to just hammer it with

specifics. whatever the president says, even if he does -- it does not pass the congress, that's all right. in europe or in africa, over the world, they listen to him. guest: i think tonight it will be important as far as the theater of how they look but also what they say. they say obama was restrained in the first debate to get the message out there. he did not talk about bain capital for the 47%. he did not talk a lot about the issues that many democrats think should be front and center in this debate. the good thing about vice president joe biden is that he usually has no problem not talking. he is happy and comfortable to say what is on his mind and get these talking points out there.

i don't think you'll see a repeat of what the president did tonight and similarly, paul ryan is very comfortable talking about the minutia of medicare policy. he is wary comfortable talking about the ins and outs of taxation and the budget. i think you will hear a lot tonight. i don't think it will be a silent debate. the challenge is just the opposite. it is for paul ryan not to say the wrong thing in terms of opening up details and substance that allows democrats to paint republicans as too far right and similarly, vice president joe biden should not make a gap for statement that will become the footage used for comedians on "saturday night live"in a the next few weeks. host: democratic caller, you are next. caller: i believe vice president joe biden should just go out and tell the truth. i don't believe he has to be aggressive and treat the upon

and in an evil manner. i believe in the truth and i think in america, we have to start listening to the truth. you don't have to get all our eggs in and out of composure to tell the truth. i think he should tell the truth. it does not matter the age. the truth is what will prevail in this country. i do believe that president obama will be reelected. thank you, you do a great job every morning. host: we will hear from scot who is a republican in illinois, go ahead caller caller: i hear a lot of things about the trip but i don't know that america knows what the truth is anymore. things are done by faith and our faith tells us what the truth is. and not what some professor has to say.

our truth normally comes from [inaudible] that is just about what i have to say but it is ridiculous that our country does not know what the truth is and we have to take class is to find out what they are. i will stand or the church's stance. host: that was a republican from illinois. you are looking at a live shot from center college in danville, kentucky where tonight's vice presidential debate will take place. the moderator will be on the other side of the two candidates at one table. the abc news foreign correspondent martha raddatz will be a moderating tonight's debate the topic is supposed to be foreign policy and domestic policy as well. what do you make of the mix of those two tonight and what impact that could have? if i can go back to the

truth comments, it is interesting -- the first caller talked about the need for candidates to just say what the truth is and the second caller was kind of questioning whether we know what that is any more. i think that will be part of the debate. you have seen both parties question the veracity of the facts that are out there and what a person says. as been central to the debate thus far. we are entering into an environment where it is very hard for people to know what the facts are. both sides have their fact checkers. the new media environment creates these sources of information and facts checking, many of which are partisan in nature. it is very hard for viewers to distinguish between fact and fiction. is how we seehat these debates. people are cynical about politics but in some way that increases 10 times when we are in this environment, being faced

and inundated with all kinds of contradictory information. i think that has been part of the story of these debates with the gradual loss of trust of many voters about what they are hearing. host: what do you think about the mix of foreign policy and domestic policy? guest: 4 vice president joe biden, that is very good. he is extraordinarily comfortable with foreign policy, much more so than congressman ryan will paul ryan will do well, i'm sure but this is where joe biden really like to show his stuff. he has been very involved during his senate career in all kinds of foreign policy issues from coast to vote to iraq and that is part of the debate. -- kosovo to iraq. you'll see the kind of confidence he does not always have on domestic policy issues

especially in medicare or taxation. i think paul ryan will be happier when they get to domestic policy. i think he will defend his record on things like medicare and really sell what he has to say. at the same time, he is targeting the budget. he is targeting the deficit. he wants the conversation to get to how much the government is spending and how poorly the economy is doing. the mix should be interesting. i think each candidate will want to push that makes in protect -- in their particular direction host: independent caller, from rockville, maryland. caller: i am probably more of a moderate democrat then i would be considered otherwise. by business owner -- i am a business owner and i am 37-years old. i'm coming to the age where parents seem to be -- where my

parents seem to be retiring with medical issues and pensions that seem to be disappearing. we are soon learning the responsibility of our aging parents is falling back on us. in regards to medicare, it will have a grave impact on us. and the economy as a whole. i wonder if this is too sophisticated an issue for the general public to get into. we are seeing how a change to a voucher system could materially impact the ability of the age group between 30-50 and generations below us to sustain an economy that can actually support and a government institution let alone a military spending situation. i don't see anyone taking that up in that argument -- the

impact of the people who are the family members of the medicare beneficiaries. that will have quite a big impact. i know many people who have older parents who are taking care of their grandparents. they would not be able to do that without the system of the government paying for medical care. that is a sliver of the issues that should be affecting the voters as a whole. guest: i think that is a terrific point. that is a way in which the whole debate of medicare and social security is never good for either side. we talk about what the impact will be on the elderly. it is, we talk about how this will effect the vote in florida. that is the elderly vote. medicare and social security are not just about the elderly who receive the actual benefits. it is also about their family members who are relieved of the

obligation, some of the financial obligation, of taking care of parents and grandparents. i think both sides can actually talk about the workers rather than the retirees. for the republicans, the question they might want to talk about are the costs of the social security tax which actually pays for medicare and social security benefits. how much that is, how much that benefits workers -- we talk about income taxes but most workers feel they pay social security tax. democrats can talk about what the effect is on working middle- class families if the government pays less for elderly retirees. if those medicare benefits are not receiving adequate coverage, how will that impact the person who is taking care of their parents and their kids at the same time? it is a very different way to think about these programs. it is just not the way in which

the conversation is handled. i think both parties could have quite an interesting and perhaps a powerful and impacting debate if they ship to the frame -- shifted the way we talk about these programs. host: here in as a tweet -- guest: i don't think so. president obama still has a lot of standing with younger voters. the democratic party has very good connections to younger voters. it is not what it was in 2008 but from all the studies, the younger voter is still more excited about the democrats than the gop. i don't think in the debate, if vice president joe biden really goes after paul ryan, and is aggressive with him or even does a little bit of what lloyd bentsen did to dan quayle in 1988, humiliating him or making him look inferior, that will

have any significant impact on the youth vote. there are other ways a good matter but that would be one of them. host: what about joe biden pause on favorability rating and the effect of that on president obama? here is pure research with this latest poll. guest: that could matter but not necessarily because of the debate but in the final calculation that voters make, if the race continues to be tight, if there is no movement in a dramatic direction either way and we go into november with a few states matter in any few voters really matter and who will determine the outcome, that might be part of the calculation. it might be part of the package in which they think about the whole ticket, meaning for many

moderates are independent, they might say i don't really like president obama as a leader even if the vice president doesn't seem strong or someone who can take over the job, as a white house team, they don't seem like people who are fully in command. it could play the same way and some people could say they like paul ryan and they like the ticket. they could see mitt romney and paul ryan as the people who can fix the problems but many people could say that paul ryan is far right and maybe that is who mitt romney is as well. i don't think they're the ones to determine how people vote but they could be seen sully as part of a larger package. host: will go to salisbury, missouri, democratic column. caller: the main thing in the debate tonight should be the american people need to see what the republicans have done to this country. i am 66 years old.

in 1965, i went to work making men's dress pants. when ronald reagan got into office, he started regulating everything. before he got out of office, missouri was losing its shoe factories. in 1991, our factory closed and sold as several others. -- and so did several others. these people are not for the american people. they are out for the rich people in this country and i think it is sad when a democrat gets into office, they turn into bullies. they don't want the democrats to get a thing done. i think it is so pathetic. they are getting paid to work for this country and instead they are just a bunch of bullies. host: what about her sentiment? guest: i think vice president joe biden is interested in these issues. one thing he has worked and in the by president say is a task

force or a commission -- in the vice presidency is a task force to work on this. these issues about jobs being exported and jobs leaving and about diminished security for the middle-class -- the questions that joe biden has thought a lot about. at a general level, he would be quite comfortable talking about this with paul ryan and these other questions where democrats can really make some traction even though they have had trouble handling the economy and the economy has not recovered in the way any democrat wished it would. in terms of their concern for the middle class and questions of inequality, it is suggested that people think this is an area where democrats are more engaged and republicans. joe biden is a person to deliver this message. it has been something that has consumed a significant part of his vice-president say. i don't know if he will talk about it. my guess is he will because joe

biden feels and the white house feels this is the best area to go after the gop ticket. host: what can we and expect from vice president joe biden's by a rigid body language and mannerisms and also paul ryan on the other side? guest: joe biden is loose. he gets in front of a television camera and next to the lectern and he looks as comfortable as he was when he was standing on the side just talking with some people. my guess is his body language by the time this starts and any nerves he has diminished will be relatively comfortable. he will look like somebody who feels good and the role they have. he will look like someone who is not worried about being in a leadership position and taking on his opponent. he will look like a senator, frankly, which is what he was. i think he gives off that

impression with his body language. he is someone who likes to give and take, someone who is not scared of paul ryan. i don't know about paul ryan. we have not seen him perform in this particular function. will he be tight? will he be very controlled and contained or appear nervous in front of this national stage? will he look like a person to bog down in the details and without sufficient provision? there was a great moment in the 1980 presidential campaign or the question was about health care. jimmy carter, the democratic president, ran through a substantive answer about what ronald reagan's position had been on medicare in the 1960's and on health care policy. he looked very serious and professorial and then ronald reagan, the camera turns to him, and he was smiling and laughing and shaking his head he finally

deliver the line "there you go again." that undermined his statement which raised questions about believing what jimmy carter was saying and ultimately presented jimmy carter as a guy so bogged down in the details that he missed the bigger picture. ronald reagan has it -- at a smile and a relaxed body and said more than jimmy carter said with all his words. that's what paul ryan has to be careful of tonight. host:"the baltimore sun"reported on paul ryan's preparation. we'll go to lowry and oregon, independent caller. thank you for waiting. caller: thank you for taking my call. this conversation, i will call

it more of a conversation than a debate, in this -debate, i would like to see the vice president's asked paul ryan to describe which both he will follow -- the oath he takes as the vice president or the pledged that he took to grover norquist. which is important? all the people or to protect the grover norquist interests? guest: i think paul ryan will make very clear that he is the vice presidential candidate and he is working for medtronic. he is part of the ticket and he will execute the issues and policies of the president and

that is what all vice-president to do. i'm sure that message will be very clear. what paul ryan really need to distinguish tonight is that he is running as the partner of mitt romney and not just a future presidential aspirants and paul ryan made famous during the budget debates. this has been a problem for mitt romney who thinks the paul ryan plan may be a little too far right. paul ryan has to make clear he is on the ball romney -- mitt romney team it will be a message he wants to convey. he is not an independent maverick. he will do what president ron they wanted mitt romney is elected. host: guest: they do. one of the reasons we have had

vice-presidential debate since the 19 -- since 1976 is because the vice presidency became more important. during the 1960's, lyndon johnson who was kennedy's vice president joe biden became president. gerald ford had been richard nixon's vice president and became president. the office of the vice-president say is greatly strengthened during the 1960's and 1970's. walter mondale in the late 1970's made the office a substantial base of power when george w. bush was president, we saw with dick cheney that the vice president was a serious figure in washington. he could have impact on issues like national security. why do we not take this issue -- does all this more seriously is a bit of a mystery. it is almost as if we were in the 1920's and 1930's when the office really was insignificant. it no longer is and they are

partners in certain respects to the president and will have a larger role as joe biden has in the white house. i think we should scrutinize the more and we should be aware not simply in case they have to become president but as what they will do as vice president. i think it matters a lot and it is too bad that it is treated a little bit like a minor league baseball. everybody focuses on the majors. host: the two will square off tonight at centre college in danville, ky at 9:00 tonight with martha raddatz moderating. we kick off our coverage at 7:00 p.m. eastern time with a debate preview and when it is done at 10:30 eastern, your reaction to what you've heard and saw in the first and only vice- presidential debate of campaign 2012. if the go to our website, c- span.org, we have a debate hub

were all political junkies can gather and share their thoughts and see what other people are saying about the debate. oklahoma, republican, good morning. caller: i think it is ironic that the young voters are democrats and they are the one who will be paying back for all that debt obama is racking up. when the mitt romney said the 47% did not pay taxes, i hope paul ryan will address how they pay back more through the income tax current credit. the food stamp people is lost revenue. what is the answer when you don't have insurance? my answer is to make payments. you have to have cable and a fallen? what is more important, your

health or cable? guest: the ways in which republicans can't win over more younger voters is a problem for the party. one strategy is focusing on the deficit. they could focus on the question of younger people becoming obligated in the future to pay for the spending of today. i'm not sure that works as well as republicans hope. it is not necessarily an issue that resonates. but two plays republicans might be able to do better -- one is the issue of social questions where republicans are often out of step with where the polls show most young americans are. there are some in the republican party that say that the gop needs to liberalize on those issues even as they stand firm on questions like taxes and national security. the place where they can immediately make gains is with

the economy. i believe there is an ad where the republicans say maybe 50% of college graduates will not get a job in this economy that is a way in which they have a message to sell right now to younger americans. they are worried about how they will get a paycheck when they are independent. it is about the economy which is where all roads lead to for this republican campaign. i think that, more than the deficit, is a way both paul ryan and met ronnie have a chance to make a pitch to younger voters who might be -- and mitt romney had a chance to make a pitch to younger voters. host: democratic caller, go ahead. caller: i would like to make an observation on paul ryan's expressions. if you just watch him on tv when he is not speaking, you will

notice that the corners of his mouth hang down very much like an old person or an old basset hound dog. thank you. host: ok, we'll go to david in fort worth, texas, independent caller, go ahead caller: i wanted to make a comment on the vice-presidential debate. i forget which vice-president it was where he summed up the vice- president say by calling get a bucket of warm spit and i think that is relevant. joe biden is prone to gaffes and i don't know paul ryan that well. i really don't think the vice presidential debate is meaningful. i really don't. you vote for president, you don't vote for vice-president. the vice president is just an attachment. somebody mentioned lbj and he

became vice president and he never debated it as i am aware of. the vice presidential debate is not meaningful. the press is trying to make it meaningful because obama did so badly and here is the chance to play catch-up. no, the vice-presidential debate -- host: got your point. guest: that statement was made by john gardner back in the 1930's. it wasn't spit that he compared it to you can look that up on the web. i think we have to remember that the vice presidency has changed significantly and is not what was back then. it is a very important office of lyndon johnson is a great example while there was the

televised debate in 1964 lyndon johnson, he was the first vice- president who really had a significant role by the end of the kennedy white house. that was nothing compared to what we have seen since walter mondale where the vice presidency is important. the debate might not matter but the office does matter. the old statement about the vice presidency, i don't think explains for that office is today. on the second point, we're missing and how the debate matters. it is not necessarily that they shape the boat or ship to the electorate. in the end, they don't determine who wins or loses but they have an impact on how the media describes the campaign. one of the biggest things that happened in the past week was a change in this story the meeting was telling from mitt romney almost conceding what was being

written about the night of the debate to mitt romney being revived, to a republican campaign that was viable. i think tonight's debate could have that same impact either way of what the media is saying in the next few days. the news is significant. that changes of voters to see the campaign. host: what impact does that have on early voting? if someone decided after they saw last week's debate or tonight's debate, maybe they will go and vote. guest: is very important. the early voting is increasing and the vote is being frozen -- is being taken now, not in november. tonight could change some votes right now or as if you did not come out of early voting, it would not be significant. it might be way in which all of these debates has a different kind of impact as the blocks in place certain votes right after

it happens. host: we will get in one last phone call for you, a republican, you are on the air. caller: anke for taking my call. i was a democrat up until the last three years. i hope that paul ryan stands up to joe biden because i think joe biden will go after him and call him a liar like the media has been doing. i think paul ryan has made himself a very clear as far as medicare. if you are on medicare already, whether you are 55 years or older, he will not touch that. it is really getting a little stale that the democrats keep coming out trying to make everybody think you'll have to go to a voucher. host: professor? guest: i think she is right. i think he will have to have good responses to that question. i think it will be important that he is not over-prepared for

it in 1976, bob dole in the first vice-presidential televised debate was barely prepared. he went on said it was disastrous for his career when he made statements that allow walter mondale to call him a hatchet man. paul ryan has been getting ready for this debate for a long time. i think he will have to have responses to these questions but he will also have to have a looseness give-and-take that does not look like someone just reading a script. he will have to find a comfortable balance in between. host: thank you, sir, for your time this morning. guest: thanks for having me. host: that concludes our discussion about the vice- presidential debate coming up next, we will turn to the house and the key house races.

we will talk to the executive directors of the national republican congressional committee and the democratic congressional campaign committee next. tonight, look for our coverage of the vice-presidential debate from danville, ky at centre college. there is a live shot for you this morning. our cameras are already there inside the norton centre. centre college was founded in 1819 and located in danville 30 miles southwest of lexington. there are about 1300 students enrolled there. two vice-president are graduates of centre college, adlai stevenson and john breckinridge. that is the site of tonight's vice presidential debate. we will be back in a minute but first a news update -- >> another u.s. embassy is the scene of violence today. yemeni security officials say an

assassin has attacked. the gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire and fled the scene. the man worked for the u.s. embassy and the yemeni capital for nearly 20 years. yemeni officials said the killing there is a hallmark of an al-qaeda attack. russia says it has no intention of extending a 20-year-old deal with the united states that has helped secure soviet nuclear stockpiles. under the 1992 program initiated by senator sam nunn and richard lugar, the u.s. has provided billions of dollars in equipment and know-how to help reinforce rail cars to carry nuclear warheads and build high-tech security systems for storage sites and help pay for dismantling old nuclear submarines and other weapons. the russian foreign minister

says it does not want to extend the deal that expires next year. this move follows the decision by moscow last year to and the u.s. agency for international development two decades of work in russia. more on the issue of voter i.d. -- a federal court blocked south carolina from enforcing its new voter photo id lot in next month's election. they said there was not enough time to educate voters and officials about it. the ruling was the latest in a string of judicial intervention blocking restrictions on voting for the november 6 election. those are some of the latest headlines on skis -- cspan radio. >> look at what president obama did on the budget, nothing, except to borrow and spend and as a result of his avocation -- abdication of leadership, seeing the most predictable economic crisis in our country and not fixing it, our credit rating was downgraded for the first time in our history. >> we laid out a $4 trillion

debt reduction plan over the next 10 years. we have already passed $1 trillion of it. ladies and gentlemen, these guys vote against everything. they say they don't like our plan, i get that. what is your plan? >> tonight, congressman paul ryan and vice president joe biden will face of and their only debate. martha raddatz moderates from center college in danville, ky and you can watch and engage with c-span with our live debate preview at 7:00 p.m. eastern. you can watch the debate at 9:00 p.m. and there is the multi cameraperson of the debate on c- span 2. follow our live coverage on cspan, cspan radio, and online at c-span.org. >> [video clip] "continues. "washington journal"continues. host: we have the executive

director of the democratic national house campaign committee as well as the republican side. congressional races are our focus here. here is the october 5 posting -- things are looking brighter for the democrats. guest: we won 63 set last election cycle that is the most since 1948. it is amazing and we feel good about where our strategy is. we have been going on offense. there is only eight seats we

will pick up before election day. since we are not being contested by the democrats, we have three seats in north carolina. there is a seat in indiana and california so we feel good about where we are going. we know this will be a tight election and this is the crunch time for both parties. host: david wasserman goes on to handicap the balance of the house -- guest: we need 25 seats to take back a house and those are his rankings. there are 66 seats across the

country right now that president obama won in the 2008 election that are either controlled by republicans for our brand new season the districting not controlled by a democrat right now. we feel terrific about our prospects. we have 53 candidates currently on our registered blue program that highlights our best campaigns. that is twice the number of seats we need to take back the majority. there is plenty of capacity for us to take this back. wasserman has been moving the rankings in our way. host: he also takes up the point you made that democrats are fond of noting how may house republicans were carried in 2008.

and and guest: we have 53 candidates. these are campaigns that are our highest benchmarks for fund raising and strategy which are professional campaigns. we have more than twice the number of races in play than we need to take back the house. beyond that, we have another 25 races. 75 races across the country are competitive. we feel over 50 of those are in play. host: let me turn to the presidential race and the impact of that on the ballot. here is "the washington post" this morning --

to the republican incumbent running and those new challengers, is that ok with them that there is no abortion legislation? guest: i think the voters are clearly focused on the economy right now. job number one is getting the economy moving and getting jobs back into the country. that is one of the reasons why we will have success in the house. the democrats continue to focus on social issues while we are focusing on the economy. a think the voters want to hear that if we can fix the economy, we can get to the other issues later but that is the number 1 job for our future republican congress. and future president met romney. host:

guest: i'm not concerned at all. this campaign is not about winning over republicans, it is about winning over swing voters. there were 9 million independent voters that the republicans won in 2006 and 2008 and left us and went to the last cycle. it is all about winning those swing voters. this election is about jobs and the problem is the tea party republican congress legislated to redefine race and take away a woman's and take away a woman's right to contraception and medical choices.

we are laser-focused on swing voters and that's what will make the difference. we're happy with the early vote numbers. the line stretching a long way in iowa when early voting started. host: political observers say democrats need more than 25 to win back the house, more like 35 or 40. to lose some of your incumbents. what is your number? guest: we feel really good about our incumbents right now. it was a rough cycle for us. if an incumbent can survive in 2010, they can survive anything. they have terrific standing and hijab approval and very good fit for their district. we feel very good about all of that. we need to get 25 seats. i feel very good about all of our incumbents. we are focused on picking up

those 25. host: is your reaction? guest: he feels good but there is no money going into that race. the democrats had already walked away from the race in north carolina. we have eight seats that they are not contesting right now. we have enough steam to pick up those eight and go from there. we believe we have done a great service to the country by making sure we have eliminated blue dog democrats. i feel like we are on the mark and a variety of ways. i think we can both agree that we are not just in presidential states. we are -- most of the races will be outside of -- the 50% will be outside of illinois and new

york. we feel very good about our prospects. host: the executive's directors will be here with us until 10:00 and we are having a long discussion of balance of the house. before we get your phone calls, tell our viewers why these congressional races matter. guest: i think the house is where everything gets done. whether you are democrat or republican, it spurs the presidency into action. the greatest things on both sides whether it is cut ronald reagan tax cutswhether you are r republican, and you look at well for reform angela, democrats' side, it was the house that was pushing for the pure liberal ideas from obama care and the stimulus to capital and trade -- if you are a partisan and you want to get something moving in the country,

you focus on the house. the others do what the house does. guest: this is something we would agree on. i think the house is incredibly important. is the driver of helping to create jobs. i think that is why this election is so important. the tea party republicans were elected to congress with a mandate to create jobs and get something done they named more post of as a than any other congress in history and not a single job was created voters .re having buyer's remorse do we want a congress that will create jobs or pander to the tea party? host: the first call is from connecticut. caller: this is a that will question for mr. harrison -- in 2010, republicans took the majority in the house and their approval ratings sank. it has been sitting down ever

since. i believe it is because they got our economy downgraded because they would not pass our debt ceiling and then they passed the debt ceiling and we got downgraded for nothing. why do you think this is? as a comment, i cannot believe that anyone would want to keep a republican incumbent in office in congress right now. they have done absolutely nothing, nothing in the last three years, 2.5 years, thank you. guest: thank you for your part is some thought. -- partisan thought. there's a jobs bill sitting in the senate. the senate has done nothing over the last four years they have not even passed a budget in the last three years yes, we have a do nothing senate.

we look forward to having a republican senate so we can get jobs bills moving again for the house and senate and we can actually pass a budget which would be a shocking thing for washington. host: c-span is blanketing center college in danville, ky today. in preparation for the vice- presidential debate. we have about eight center college students joining us for the program to ask these two gentlemen questions. it is an older college of over 1300 students and our first student there is allyson, go ahead. caller: good morning, what has been the impact of super packs on congressional races?

guest: their impact has been tremendous unfortunately. we did not lose the 2010 election to the republicans. we lost to karl rove, but coke brothers and we outspent the republicans by $20 million. we were outspent over all by $30 million. what is happening here? what is happening is that the tea party republican congress continues to toe the line, more tax breaks for millionaires, protecting subsidies for big oil companies and helping out insurance companies. the one to end the medicare guarantee and turn singers over to insurance companies to fend for themselves. it is clear why this is happening. that is why this election is so important. we need folks to turn out and

reject the tea party agenda that the koch brothers and karl rove are funding. guest: tea party congress -- it is fire we're talking about that. john boehner, our speaker, can go to any competitive district in the country. we have a standing position at the nrcc that we will pay for nancy pelosi to go to any competitive districts. we're waiting for them to take a supplement offer. we look forward to bringing her into any competitive district because we know her favorability is across the country. if you want to talk about party leaders, we look forward to doing that overall, the super pacs, it is an overblown story in the house.

both entities are kind of leading the way. they have their super packs and we have ours. they outspent us during the month of september. it does not help to them that much. i think it is one of those things that we need to be focused on. our party would go back to allowing more contributions. we believe that is the better way to go. there are those that believe we need to construct the ability for money to flow somewhere. the super paks have finally equalized to what the unions have been doing for the last few decades. host: our guests are here until 10:00 this morning. the balance of the house is our topic. here is the current makeup of the house of representatives.

here is a gallup poll that was taken september 24-27. likely to vote for democrats in congressional races -- it is split down the middle. that is our topic this morning as return to wreck in fairfax, va., a republican. caller: first of all, i don't understand why you guys keep saying that the medicare guarantee would go out the window if people could still stay in the traditional medicare program. the second thing is from 2000- 2006, the republicans never really had complete control. they only had an average of 52 in the senate according to the composition of congress. we could not really pass and a major legislation. they got the tax cuts for but

they could not do comprehensive tax reforms or comprehensive spending reform or major regulatory reform. in 2009, for that seven month test period, after the al franken victory and the for the scott brown victory, the democrats did have 60 seats in the senate and they did not really do anything except the medical bill. why didn't they do comprehensive tax reform? why didn't they fix the so- called tax break for shipping jobs overseas? "guest: first of all, i would take issue -- i think the democratic majority accomplished an enormous amount less cycle. they did more to create jobs and save millions of jobs across the country and prevented another recession.

the first question? remind me -- host: i am blanking out myself. he said republicans only had 52 -- he was referring to the senate -- the republicans did not have total control to get things done. guest: if you look at what happened this cycle, there was a mandate from the american people to create jobs. the tea party republican congress came in and all they did was protect tax breaks for millionaires, subsidies for oil companies, there were double said negotiations and eric cantor walked out of them. guest: i will stop right there -- every single report has focused on the fact that president obama walked out on the negotiations. the fact is, when you look at third-party reports, president obama walked out on the negotiations. we look forward to having those

negotiations again. only a democrat would believe on the've had success jobs market. we have had over 7.5% unemployment for the last four years. guest: eric cantor walked out of a press conference. we were brought to the brink of our credit disaster when republicans refused to do anything to raise the debt limit and move on and have a serious negotiation. the partisan a lock in washington is fueled by the tea party republicans in congress. the tea party is rolling back and that is what will happen in this election. the tea party members have been due more yelling on cable television them getting anything done. those are the folks that will go out. host: we will hear from andre in

youngstown, ohio, independent college. caller: good morning. youngstown,ing from ohio, i am calling for minnesota. our state is very diverse. i am independent, as you mentioned, our state consists of latinos, native, caucasians, moms, and myself was african- american. we have noticed certain lines have been drawn our state. i mean this with the utmost respect. certain people campaign in certain communities. if we are going to be for 100% of america, shouldn't the candidates go to all the people? as an african-american, it bothers me that some people take for granted that myself and my

wife who is african-american, will automatically vote for barack obama. i would like to hear the other side of the argument in my community. some of my community members, we've rarely see elected officials or people running for office. guest: he is exactly right, we need to be campaigning across the country. republican candidates are doing that across the country. we feel good about where our targets are. if you look at the targets, there is no doubt the republican party prior to the 2006-2008 shrank back to a smaller version of itself. in the last cycle, we showed we can win seats across the country from the northeast to the midwest. for the first time, we will have an opportunity to have competitive seats in california. they have 10 competitive seats

this cycle and about five on offense from our perspective and five on defense and that is a great opportunity for americans. host: we will go back to our campaign 2012 bus down in danville, ky. caller: good morning, my question is -- does either party have any plans for rehabilitating recent veterans suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder? guest: in the last congress, democrats passed the new gi bill which was the largest new assistance to veterans coming home since the gi bill and the second world war. our party has a good track record on this issue. in the most recent congress, republicans repeatedly voted against insuring that troops receive their pay in the event

of a government shutdown but made sure they got paid. i think the record there is pretty clear. guest: that does speak for itself, everyone got paid the fact is, we need more jobs especially for our troops returning home with me to get our economy moving again. we are focused on making sure we are not taxing job creators and reducing government spending which is hampering job growth. jobs, jobs, jobs is what the speaker has said from the beginning. we're very focused in the republican party on creating jobs and creating a better economy host: this is from twitter -- guest: i think history speaks

for itself. the pendulum is always swinging both ways. we feel very confident about our prospects and we will pick up a lot of seats. host: we will go to jeremy in georgia, republican caller. you are on the air. caller: bill clinton sent all the jobs overseas with fair trade and obama is talking about bringing them back. what about that? guest: republicans are very focused on the fact over taxation and overregulation are forcing jobs overseas. we need to take the boot of the throat of our small businesses and allow them to create jobs. when you have $800 billion

stimulus which is $1 trillion when you put in interest and vote for that in one day, that creates a problem for the entire country. right now, we have a government or the -- where they are focused more on government jobs than the private sector. we need to focus on private sector job growth. the republicans have a plan for that. host: let's go to a student at centre college. caller: good morning, how do each campaign target certain groups? guest: political campaigning has improved a lot over the years.

guest: we're having to build it ourselves. it takes tremendous resources in the states where the presidential campaigns do not an operation. host: what are your thoughts? guest: it's also an investment in time. we start focusing on these non-presidential states about a year in a half ago and started creating these. mostly in california. california is a place that neither party committee is really targeted in the last two decades. because of the redistricting there. it's created sometimes completely new seats. i don't think there's sitting incumbent have more than 50% of his old seat in california. there's a unique opportunity and challenge out in california.

host: top race for each of you in california. guest: i'm still shocked that the democrats are letting us beat jerry . we have a great chance. host: what about you robby mook? guest: jerry mcnairry is coming back to congress. this is a district obama got over 57% of the vote. jerry is running a terrific campaign. ricky is a wonderful guy but he's a 25-year-old law student and hasn't had a real job in his life. he's very fortunate to grown up in a very wealthy family that's politically connected. he can try but that's a democratic district. one of the key races for us as

the 26th district, strickland is tea party republican, a recent endorsement in one of the local papers of jerry brown pointed out. he's right in line with grover norquist. this is a real litmus test of the right wing republican agenda facing a moderate democrat who's going to stand up for a woman's right to choose, a balanced approach to the budget. it's a really marquee race for us there. host: haste, nebraska, rita go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. i watch c-span quite a bit. i appreciate your program because it does give a person a lot of insight to what's going on in the government world. hairlike to know is -- what i like to know is the two talkers on today -- when i first started watching, it seems they were together on the same things,

friendly. then as the conversation gets on, the republican guy seem to be more defensive and aggressive. what i would like to know if you guys and the senators in the house can work together as one group for the world. for the people, who they are elected for. why can't they keep that in their mind and work for the best welfare of everybody? host: guy harrison, bipartisanship. guest: our job is to run our political committee. that is up to the policy makers on the hill to be putting that together. i believe that we've had a lot of bipartisan bills coming out of this republican congress. most of the jobs bills we sent over to the senate had bishop

bills -- bipartisan bills. unlike the obamacare bill that was shoved through without a republican vote. we've had more open rules than the democratic congress. we feel good about our bipartisan record. but really both robby and i are focused on winning elections now. host: mary tanner aboard the campaign 2012 bus, go ahead. mary, can you hear us? caller: yes i can. my question is, we had david brooks on campus last week. he discussed how he sees mitt romney unguarded figure for american politics. i was wondering how the gentleman thinks how he will fair in the upcoming election.

guest: david has a little problem with our nominee. i think david would have different perspective after the last debate. i think we'll see a different -- we'll be able to see very open mitt romney when we get to the town hall meeting setting of the debate. i always find it funny how we get more focused on whether they sight too much rather than focusing on the issues. it's something i wish the media is focused on. media is only focused on polling. if we want to talk about having a open set of ideas, both parties would like people to stop focusing on the horse race and focus on exactly what's happening on a day-to-day basis and the ideas proposed. host: how often do you two look at polls? robby mook, is it something you're looking at key races? are you tracking polls everyday?

guest: we get a lot of polling information. we are looking at it. it's still early in house races. we are three weeks out. the election is almost here. house races really develop a lot later. getting what the caller addressed. the big problem house republicans addressing is mitt romney. particularly also in new york, illinois and california where romney is going to lose by a tremendous margin, he's really become a drag on their ticket. voters don't like that he's an outsourcer. his company made millions buying american companies and stripping them apart and moving the jobs overseas. he wants more tax breaks for millionaires like himself and this has become a major liability for candidates running in areas that suffered from these outsourcing, the policies that encourage outsourcing like tax breaks for companies that

ship jobs overseas. the other part for mitt romney, mentioning about his personality, we don't know where he is on anything. he supported a tax plan for $5 trillion in tax cuts and then we get to the debate, all of a sudden that disappeared. he's benefited from those tax breaks. the big problem for voters for now, the facts they see, they don't like but they don't know where romney is because he keeps changing all the time. host: let's get another student here c.j. donald go ahead. caller: there was 17% less young voters interested in this campaign than it was in 2008. my question is why do you think voters still disconnected from the candidate and two what will your parties do before november 6th to engage the young voters? guest: i would encourage young voters read the front page and

get involved in politics. i do not feel like it's the party's fault that people aren't engaged. there's millions of dollars spent on advertising and ground campaign. sometimes the american public need to be focused on the campaign and understand what's at stake. both parties do a very good job trying to reach out to all voters. going back to the consistent backtrack going on on the other side. the fact is shipping jobs overseas, if there is a tax loophole shipping jobs overseas, they this two years to fix it. we know what the problem is. we have over regulation for companies sitting here in the united states. we have over taxation for companies here in the united states. that is the reason why jobs are getting shipped overseas. we have too much regulatory burden, too much of a tax burden. guest: on the topic of young

people, i think there couldn't be more although stake for young people in this election. i agree with him, it's really important young people get engaged and vote. from my perspective, what's at stake a lot of the tea party members who were elected last cycle, they want to end department of education, they want to end student loans. there are key resources out there that young people need to get through college and get a degree. i agree, young people need to be engaged in this race. i would argue, they need to go vote for house democrats, because we're going to ensure folks can get a good college education. host: let me get a young voice in here. the next one is caroline. go ahead. caller: hi. recently, we've been talking

about the ethics of political representation. as you all know, there's been -- over whether representatives should act in line with their constituents desire or whether they should make experienced based decision what they think is in their best interest. which approach do each of you believe will be effective with problem solving in washington? guest: that's another reason why both robby and i are interested in the house. the representatives, you're going to fix the problems back home, making sure the checks are happening. every single congressman has to have a balance. unlike any other political persuasion. when you look state senator or

state rep, probably more focused on the state representative side. every member of congress has to have that balance as they're going through it. the thing that i want to focus on young people today, is the obama freshman that voted for him four years ago, are now obama seniors. they're looking out and they have no jobs. that the key change for young voters right now because they were sold a buyer of goods. they thought they will have hope and change and now they have nothing. now they're going back and living with their parents. it's one of the reasons we've seen young people either disillusioned this cycle or at least looking at the republican party for some answers. host: sheila next in massachusetts. caller: i listen to c-span all the time and recommend it highly to everybody i know. listening to all the news

reports and pundits talk to people all over the country regarding the upcoming presidential race, lot of the folks will say, we want to try romney because we hear he was such a great governor. someone governed by mitt romney in massachusetts, i want to say he was not a good governor. he cut a lot of jobs, he didn't raise taxes but he raised every fee sky high to the point that the average guy could not take his child fishing because of the fishing fees was so high. i think that's a disservice for people to be voting for somebody who's one thing and he's something else. guest: mitt romney has been successful in everything he's done. that's the key in this presidential race. when you look at staples, and

other key brands across the country, he helped build those brands. this is a president that understands how to create jobs versus a university professor or community organizer that has never done anything to create jobs. in fact, the best thing obama has been able to do is figure out where his next job will be. host: robby i will let you take the next call. joshua in colorado springs, a republican. caller: this is for both gentlemen on the program. i want to ask a question that both parties are going to specifically address the issue, not talking points about jobs and the g.i. bill. i want to know how both parties will address funding and how we're going to look at programs to help veterans. guest: it's a good question.

guy and i are not policy experts, so it's hard for me to get into too many specifics. as i said, the g.i. bill that was passed in the last congress by the democratic majority was the biggest ever since the second world war and ensure that troops coming home gets the education and the healthcare, including mental healthcare they need. i think the mechanics of it and how it set up, we disagree on it. i apologize, i can't get into policy specifics because i'm not an expert on it. host: let's go to dale in ohio, independent there. go ahead. caller: yes, this is for both gentlemen on the panel as an american, why would we want a modern day -- as a president, i'm talking about mitt romney? guest: we want someone that will create jobs.

not someone who will spend trillion dollars a day on a failed stimulus. not someone that will make bets on failed solar companies like solyndra. we want someone that will create jobs. mitt romney shown that he has the ability to create jobs. the many of the retailers that you currently buy whether it's staples or other companies, he created. i think he has a record of creating jobs, he has a record of reviving institutions that were falling such as the salt lake city olympics. we have a great opportunity here. we need to create jobs. we need to grow in economy. guest: the only thingly take issue with, guy said romney has been very successful in his life and he has accomplished a great deal. part of the question we have in this question, what is success. i think again, the problem with mitt romney's record is he has gone in, taken over companies,

laid off workers increased his bottom line but hurt the communities. again, this is the choice that voters have in all of these house races as well. are ewith going to send people to congress, help these big corporations and provide more tax breaks to millionaires or focus on the middle class. that's success in the mind of the democrats running for the house this cycle. guest: fact is $800 billion in the stimulus failed. when you look at the president decided he wanted to invest government money, our taxpayer dollar into a company that failed. went bankrupt and lost jobs. they may have had great bathrooms and fantastic headquarters but they did not create any jobs. i would put my interest with mitt romney because he has a history of creating strong job growth both massachusetts,

helping out the salt lake city olympics and private sector creating many companies across the country. host: dayton, ohio, democratic caller, greg. caller: i have a question for mr. harrison. he said that congress, he said obama didn't do anything. they passed the healthcare bill, they stopped this economy from going down in the rut. also, when you all time in 2010, this where all the trouble started. when you look at jobs, in the medical field, the jobs are picking up like mad in the medical field. there's a whole lot of jobs in the medical field. you all saying there will be a whole bunch of jobs lost. right now this economy, every person i ask is in the medical field. they're getting jobs in the medical field. how many people want to get a salary that staples get? if you work at staples, you are

a associate. the other question is, why do every republican vote no. you all have -- individual ideas for yourself. host: we'll leave it there. guest: i feel good about where the successes of the house republicans of congress has been. the hard part is, good bills have gone to die in the senate. harry reid still not passed a budget for three years. we have not passed a budget in the senate. i feel good about where we've done to limit government spending so that we can get start reducing the size $17 trillion in debt. host: okay, we'll go to louisiana, republican line, malcolm. caller: good morning. i'm really getting tired of the

democrats -- my real point the military vote, there is so much going on and people that defend this country overseas are not going to be allowed to vote because they are sending out the ballots too late or they putting return dates at the wrong time. most of the information i've been able to gather is that, a lot of these are coming from democrat controlled areas. i want to know why the democrats don't want the military people voting? guest: i don't know the specifics what you're talking about. what i can tell you is that actually congress did pass a new law that mandates that ballots go out earlier for military votes. there are a laws in place that ensure these military volt are -- votes are counted. i have confidence that they will be counted. host: michael in stamford,

connecticut, independent caller, you're on the air. caller: good morning. i want to talk about the recovery and whoever gets elected are going to have to start the recovery getting better. it sort of like everybody agrees that recovery is going on but it's not good enough. but we're recovering. what are we recovering from? it seems like we're recovering from the republicans and tagging over and not doing anything or getting in the way of everything. i think if we reelect more republicans, it will be like a relapse and we will be right back in the same old boat. they run around like crazy fret, drunken students these republicans. guest: listen, we definitely need to create jobs, grow the economy. the fact is this president has failed at that. there's a reason why they put

the republicans in the house. what we've been able to do is stem the spending that's been happening under the democrats. we've started that job of reducing the spending. we have 30 jobs bills. they are sitting over in the senate. we love to pass them. we love to come back tomorrow and pass them. but we had no movement from the senate. they have not passed a budget in three years. guest: when president clinton left off the we were in a surplus. we were bringing in more revenue than we were spending. when george bush came to office, he created two brand new tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires that were unpaid for. two wars on our nation's credit card and that's what created this fiscal mess. that's what started the jobs going away. when president obama took office we were hemorrhaging jobs and we

were in deep debt. the idea they're now coming and saying, here's this mess we created and you didn't clean it up fast enough and now elect us. it's not accurate. if we want to rein in spending and balance the budget, we need to follow the policies that president obama is proposing which is to bring us back to the clinton era tax policies. host: i'll come to you. guest: it is amazing how much the democrats whine about what happened. the fact is, president bush had to deal with september 11th. we act like that didn't happen. the fact is he dealt with s eptember 11th. he stood there, fixed the problem and yes, we had to deal with the economy. in 2007, we had the highest amount of government revenue in the history of the united states. that was underneath the bush tax cuts. you can grow the economy without increasing taxes. we've shown that we have the ability to do that. host: i have two more students

to get in. they're on the campaign bus down in danville, kentucky. patrick is one of them. caller: what is your opinion on the recent citizens united decision and how will it impact future elections. guest: supreme court believes we have the freedom of speech. this is something the republicans said when we passed -- when democrats forced through the idea of campaign finance reform. we believe that the party committee should be able to take more money from individuals and us disclose it. we would like that to happen. citizens united allows other entities out there to do that. essentially allows other entities to the what the unions have been doing for the last two decades. we would love to work with the democrats on reinforcing the ability of both political parties to be able to take in some and fully disclose.

i would say both the nrcc and dccc living in the highest disclosure. there's not a company in america that have to disclose how much they take in and how much we spend. we want to be regulated. guest: as i said earlier, citizens united was a disaster for the middle class frankly. freedom of speech is at the core of what this country is about. it has to be protected but corporations are not people. what you have now under citizens united is a system in which health insurance companies and credit card companies can decide they want legislation to reflect their point of view that they don't want consumers to have the choices they need and they can go in and buy seats in congress and ensure people that share their ideology is elected.

that's not good for america. that's not good for the middle class. i agree with guy, we need to change the way money is working in politics. we need to take it out and most importantly, we need to have disclosure. we don't know where this money is coming from. these folks can pop into a race any time and dump a bunch of money. host: one more question. ben is the last student at centre college, go ahead. caller: good morning. what do you think our role as millennial generation played in social issues in this year's campaign? guest: i think an important difference between the parties this cycle is, you know, democrats we supported ending

don't ask don't tell. they want to restrict women's healthcare choice and woman right to choose. the millennial generation will play an important role in this election. deciding what party is up so speed with the times in terms of the social issues you're mentioning. guest: no doubt, it was a different convention you had. it was focused on social issues rather than focusing on jobs and economy. you know your record failing on jobs and the economy. obama and the democrats like to talk about anything other than obama's record of failure. there's a reason why nancy pelosi and her crew was knocked out two years ago. they were pushing things that were not focused on jobs and economy. they were too much focused on passing obamacare. we already know 75% of the small business in states will limit

job growth. we are very clear on two things that we need to do when we get back, we got to repeal obamacare, which will allow the opportunity for job growth and start reducing the regulation and taxation that's hindering as well. host: we have 30 minutes left with our guest. ift to thank our students down in danville, kentucky aboard the campaign 2012 bus. i also want to thank laura for preparing the students and time warner cable for sponsoring today's bus visit. thank you both for taking their questions as well. i want to continue with our viewer phone calls for the next 30 minutes as we focus on the balance of the house here, what's at stake in these key congressional races. john has been waiting patiently in dundee, illinois. democratic caller there. caller: good morning, i'm a democrat and i have been a democrat over 40 years. the thing about the democratic

party is that you have liberal democrat, you have central democrats, you have more corporate democrats. listen to guy's speak over there, he mentioned the fact that not one republican in congress voted for the affordable care act or for stimulus. doesn't it say something about the republican party suggesting something dark, rather than a cult more like a republican party? guest: it is good to know that we have some partisan democrats calling in today. the fact is when you look both stimulus and obamacare, we tried to put in amendments. the democrats wouldn't allow them to the floor. this is the culture nancy pelosi had in place. if you're a republican, you didn't have a chance to speak. fact is speaker boehner allowed more amendments on the floor twice as much as the democrats before them.

we still believe that the ability to pass bipartisan bills is important. that's the reason why we have 30 jobs bills over in the senate that we love to get passed. guest: the one thing i would say, the extreme fringe in the republican party demanded that the republicans hold a hearing on how to ban women for having access to contraception. having nothing to do with jobs. they didn't allow a single woman to speak at that hearing. one one woman did come to speak, she was shut out. any notion about the notion is being control pail in comparison what the republican have done. host: let's turn to some specific house races and talk a little bit about them and what they mean for the nation. one of them is texas 23rd race. this is a piece that was written, a political blog written in san francisco chronicle about the texas 23rd

race. democrats touting a poll showing their nominee with a narrow lead. democrats can't afford to lose races like this if they have any chances to control the house. robby mook. guest: this is an important race. i think it's pretty symbolic what's going on. these are the issues you're seeing them go back and forth on the air. it's very clear choice for the voters in this district. guest: he is a true testament to the american dream. you insulted by calling him a

millionaire but he's a self-made man. that's amazing democrats want you if you haven't had success, once you have success, we're going to denigrate your success and bring it down. he's created jobs. this is one ever the problems of the democratic party, they are always after the job creator. secondly, he's going to win this race because he's going against environmental extremist. the fact is, texas is growing fine, thank you to the rest of the country because we are creating jobs in texas. that is not in other states of the country because we have the ability to take off the regulation and really create those oil and gas jobs that are needed in the state like texas. host: pennsylvania's 12th district. let me talk about that one a little bit. after redistricting, this district favored john mccain in 2008 by 54% to 45%. how are you defending?

guest: mark chris really done a terrific job establishing a record that really fits this district. he's a moderate democrat, he's a projobs democrat and pro-labor democrat. this a union heavy in western pennsylvania that has suffered from policies of outsourcing. mitt romney is a huge liability for keithfus. he is siding with the republicans on the medicare policy that will end medicare as we know it. he is out of step with this district and mark kritz is a good fit. he's a good fit and he's going to win again. guest: i find that statement hilarious. i would barack obama to come to this district. barack obama is going to lose this district by six points at least.

the fact we have keith running in this district. when you look at the fact that he has said he's for creating jobs, he has anti-job record. we have a great opportunity in this race and once again, we would invite barack obama to come to this district, love to have him there. host: rob in arlington, virginia, republican. caller: good morning. this conversation is covered a whole lot of ground that's pretty stellar. there's a couple things i like to debunk on the democratic side. i'll take a couple one real quick. one of the notion of bipartisanship which is something we all desire. that's an impossibility with the democratic party of our day, of our time and era. you look at obama-pelosi-reid,

it has been pointed out several times this year and throughout the years, harry reid blocks everything. you can't pass anything through the u.s. senate. how will you have bipartisanship if the senate leader doesn't allow anything to pass through the senate. this president has white house chief of staff running around congressional locker room poking congressman in the chest demanding that they vote for obamacare. it's been very aggressive, it's been chicago style politicking. on the state level, one other quick example possibility of bipartisanship today. as governor mitt romney had a lot of vetoes and most of them were overridden. host: robby mook. guest: i obviously disagree what the caller said. first of all, republicans the have passed a budget. they passed a budget that ends

medicare as we know it and forces seniors on private insurance companies and increases taxes on the middle class by ending important deductions that the middle class relies on now. it was a totally unreasonable budget and balloon for the deficit. it wasn't reasonable to start with. you can't pass an extreme tea party budget and then throw it at the senate and president and say pass this budget. that's just unreasonable. there was a process in place and president obama came to the table and eric cantor walked away. there has to be some compromise. as i said earlier, this is what this election is about. the tea party wave swept in, voters are having buyers remorse. this was just more rhetoric more special interest. what we're going to see in this cycle is the tea party wave is going to roll back and bring in some real problem solvers.

host: speaking of tea party, guy harrison i was in 4th district, according to the san francisco political blog, steve king lost some base support. democrats would love to pick up this seat. guest: i'm sure they would love to pick up the seat. the problem is they've already thrown in the towel. the rest of the democratic super pacs given up the seats. i'm glad they wasted money on this seat. steve king will win overwhelmingly. getting back to the budget. let's focus on the fact that barack obama budget was put in the house and senate and it got zero vote. that's a stilling argument. he's gotting zero votes, none in the house and none in the senate. listen, when you're negotiating, it's hard to negotiate with yourself. the democrats never figured out a way to get their whole coalition of democrats around

everything. we look forward to negotiating with them and look forward to increasing job growth. host: robby mook, have democrats given up on vilsack? guest: that's untrue. we invested tremendous amount of money in the district. the real story here is this race is in play at all in the first place. the reason that it's in play, before there was a tea party steve king, was the tea party. this guy was the original tea party. this is a long time incumbent. this race never should have come into play. steve king was check out of the district. he cared more about hanging out with michelle bachmann and dealing with border fence. he spent for time on fringe tea party issues than he did for jobs. that's why this race is in play. that's why we're all in.

guest: they're all in without any money. the fact is steve king is going to win overwhelmingly. the only reason why the democrats spent money here, it was the democrats fantasy they had opportunity. we appreciate they wasted the money they could have spent helping out larry kissell. these are the choices the other side has to make. going off on fantasyland is not exactly great opportunity. host: let me get ed in, he's in pennsylvania, independent caller there. caller: good morning, both parties owned totally by the israeli lobby including billionaires like saban who bought the democratic party ten years ago. host: what evidence do you have of that? caller: the way they vote. the fact that two years ago,

netanyahu addressed both houses of congress, joined session. he got 29 standing ovations they worship him. host: okay ed, got your point. we'll go to betty in eerie, pennsylvania. caller: this is to the republican who is sitting there about nothing getting through the senate. host: guy harrison is his name. caller: i'm sorry. do you know how many filibusters there has been since obama has been president? 278 more than any president, the last four president has to put

up with. and cloture votes, you can't pass anything when you have somebody that wants to make you a one term president. guest: the fact is if you pass the budget, you will be able to get votes through with 51 votes. that's the problem that they have. they don't want to pass the budget so therefore they get into cloture. getting back to it, there was a time when barack obama had the house, the senate and himself one party rule. if themed them -- they wanted to get things done like trying to figure out the mythical tax for shipping jobs overseas, they should have done it then. but the fact is, they didn't pass a budget then when they had complete control and they're not passing one now. guest: , look the republicans had a meeting after the inauguration where they made a clear decision to block anything he tried to do at any cost. that's been evidenced by their

entire voting record, voting no down the line as guy pointed out. and the reason a budget can't get passed because house republicans will not pass a reasonable budget. they pass a budget with bunch of special interest and balloons the deficit. that's not acceptable and that's not what the voters want. that's why we need to kick the tea party out of congress. when we do that, we can finally get a reasonable budget passed. guest: i'm glad we're going to conspiracy theories on secret meetings. let's focus on the fact that the senate has not passed a budget. we can have every excuse in the book, the president likes to use excuses. the democrats are taking him up on his offer. all we hear excuses we need action. host: let's go to michael, tallahassee, florida, independent caller. michael you with us? caller: hello? yes i have a question for mr. harrison regarding the plan for mitt romney to increase

employment. it has to do with the -- if if he believes that fact that he will be able to create $4 million in four years with the idea of reducing taxes is possible? guest: our tax system is too burdensome and frankly allows too many loop hopes at the upper income level. that's the reason why we're focused on reducing those loopholes, reducing taxes across the board including the corporate tax. we have the highest corporate tax in the world. it's one of the reasons why jobs are going overseas because we have taxed and regulated american jobs out of business. we don't want american jobs to compete, we want them to dominate. we want to be able to dominate the world market and we believe that the ability to do that is reducing taxing and regulation on american companies.

host: i want to get a republican phone call here for robby mook. this is debby in houston, texas. caller: good morning i'm a tea partier and i'm getting tired of hearing them bad mouth the tea party as sort of conspiracy. let me explain to you, we started the tea party because we were sick and tired what was going on in washington by both the democrats and the republicans. we were tired of it. mr.mook, i hate to tell you but the democrats do nothing but lie which is why you're blaming mitt romney for lying. don't call the kettle black when you're black. i'm going it tell you, i listen to c-span and i listen to the hearing and i can't tell you how stupid the democrats sound. by the way, social security, give me back my money. i could have invested it better than the government did. give me back my social, i don't need your medicare.

i'm not going to say anything more than that, i have a lot of knowledge about wall street and i know a lot about taxes and you all are lying. unless you're a cp a, you don't understand what mitt romney is saying. host: debbie thank you very much. guest: thank you debbie. there were a lot very well meaning people who believed in the tea party because they were frustrated with the culture in washington. what voters are experiencing now is buyers remorse, the same tea party members came into washington, they joined the partnership, name calling and buckering, they spent more time on table tv. you bring up the subject of social security and medicare, the problem what the republicans want to do, they want to create more tax breaks for the wealthy and they are going to take away your medicare. they will not give you your money back, they will give it away for more tax breaks.

i hear your frustration. a lot of voters had it, the tea party hasn't proved to be the solution. host: i want to go to new york 19. i want viewers get a good idea what races you guys are focusing on new york 19 is one of them. congressman chris gibson there. more than half of the voters are new to him. guest: there was -- he is a american leader, a american hero and has a great persona across the district as a very good independent record. you know, he also understands that the only party that has cut medicare is the democrats. democrats cut medicare by $800 billion to fund obamacare. if you want to talk about whether -- i noticed we haven't

talked about obamacare a lot from the democrat side, one stellar achievement they don't want to talk about. it's hurting seniors and it's putting a group of 15 unelected bureaucrats between you and your doctor. i feel confident in that district. it is nice to see dccc spending money in new york . he had to take his money, i guess, florida, illinois and pennsylvania and other failed races and bring them back to new york. guest: let me address medicare for two seconds. guy made the assertion they were cuts to medicare. first of all, the adjustment that's he was talking about -- what the democrats did in the president's healthcare bill was take the hundreds of billions of

dollars in subsidy going to private insurance companies that everyone agrees were a waste and cut those. again, they were a wasteful subsidy to private insurance companies. it was such a good idea that paul ryan included these same cuts in his own budget. it takes aot of brass for the republicans to sit here and accuse democrats of doing something that they voted for themselves. it's particularly ironic in new york's 19th district where julian never been in congress and he's taking something he did and attacking him for it. every independent source said there was no cut to benefits. that's a lie. on new york 19, chris gibson did have a very strong lead in this district. this is a tie now. we released a poll earlier this week that shows that it's a tie. it's a tie because of medicare and it's a tie because of mitt

romney and paul ryan. the romney agenda is a huge problem. guest: love to have obama comp to that district. the fact is mitt romney. guest: we would love for mitt romney to go up to that district. guest: the fact is chris gibson would have a great opportunity to win this seat. he has a very good independent record and has shown it throughout the district. guest: he's voted with the tea party. host: barbara in new york city, democratic caller. caller: i'm serious, the tea party are holding our government hostage for all of these years. we have shovel-infrastructure jobs ready to go. we need that money to create jobs. the tea party does not believe in government anyway. they shouldn't be running for elected office and to see

$20 million of unaccounted money to come in to flip state elections, this is incredible. they only allow $100,000 for a campaign in england. host: mr. harrison, what about the money? guest: listen, we were talking about shovel-ready jobs. the fact is, more government spending is not the answer. we need to create privacy sector growth. we need to reduce taxation and regulation. that's the reason why we have an ability to have chris gibson to get elected in new york. host: new orleans, independent caller there. caller: i want to say you look stunning there. mr.harrison, can you explain to the people how much time and effort it would take to repeal

obamacare? i'm hanging up. host: i'm and effort to repeal obamacare. guest: it would be a vote. it would be passed in the house and if it ever got up on the senate floor, we will be able to repeal it. the fact is, it is universal now that obamacare is not needed nor wanted. we have -- the president was focused on cost and focused on access and we should have been focused on cost. healthcare is risessen after obamacare. seniors are getting cut. i know they hate to hear, there was $800 billion cut out of medicare. and focused on the fact that everyone says no one liked that insurance product, just talk to the seniors on medicare advantage. they like the additional choices they have on medicare advantage. what they want to do is put them in a government run system that doesn't allow them the choice. we want more choice in medicare.

we want thousands and millions of seniors to be making choices so we can get competition into medicare rather than having 1500 elected bureaucrats rationing care. host: i have a tweet here from ron who says what liberals call austerity is living within your budget. liberals are not fiscally responsible. guest: i think, again, we should go back to the fact the fact is when bill clinton was president, we had a surplus and borrowing had stopped. president bush comes into office, two enormous tax breaks -- guest: after september 11th. guest: two tax breaks. look at the presidents who reined in spending. it was bill clinton. that's the kind of leadership we're look for again.

that's the proposal president obama have on the table. i want to say what guy was saying, the problem here is that the tea party promised a lot and they delivered nothing. they voted to reobamacare dozens of time. the fact is people do not want insurance companies to be able to throw them off because they have a preexisting condition. being a woman shouldn't be a preexisting condition. these are all things they are voting to have happen. people don't want it. we can have the vote and stunts but we need action and compromise. guest: he keeps on bringing up insurance company, 50% of the money in obamacare will be going to insurance companies. insurance companies will be part. guest: it's not government runed healthcare. guest: what i would say, they will be giving subsidies to the insurance companies. 50% of the money will be going to them. the fact is --

guest: it's not government run healthcare. guest: no, it's definitely government run healthcare. there's 15 elected bureaucrats that can choose what you can pay for. those are the facts. the president couldn't even deal with this in his own debate. he has no idea what those unelected bureaucrats will do. host: we had a reporter on yesterday who talked about this board. it's not up and running yet but they probably would not make a decision impacting medicare unless there's some sort of trigger in the economy and likely will not happen until 2022. guest: so it's in the legislation but some reporter decided it wouldn't happen? host: the medicare board is not up and running and you're saying it is. guest: it's not up and running yet. everything happens after 2014.

obamacare worst aspect happen after 2014. he pushed everything back beyond the presidential election so he wouldn't have to deal with all the pain. most of the regulations have been put out there. this is going to be over regulations and the 15 unelected bureaucrats isn't in the regulation. i love the media like to discount that. it's in the legislation, read it. guest: let's talk about what's active in obamacare now. if you're a woman, you do not have a preexisting condition. being pregnant as preexisting condition. if you're a parent, your children can stay on your health insurance if you're 26. that's what they have been voting to repeal. on the subject of bureaucrats -- guest: i would rather have my kids if their 26 have a job and get their own healthcare. guest: i don't think kids want toddle their -- throw their kids

off their healthcare. what the republicans do in their plan, they end traditional medicare and put seniors at the mercy of insurance companies on that privacy insurance. when you're a sick senior and insurance company can throw you to the wall and say sorry we will not help you anymore. host: hold on. guest: it's the ryan plan voluntary? host: i got two minutes left. kim in cincinnati, ohio, democratic caller. caller: my question is for guy harrison. it's not really a question i'm going to ask him to display or to admit. for the second time this week i've someone call and say that the military is not receiving their balance on time for this up come -- ballots on time for this upcoming election. i want guy harrison to tell the

people who is responsible for making sure that those military people receive those ballots? thank you. guest: military responsible for making sure they receive those ballots. this is something that both parties have worked on consistently. it is a organizational nightmare to make sure that they get the ballots. we've extended all of the list. what you'll find is the military ballots comes in week or two weeks after an election day. and they are counted as votes. it's something both sides are very focused on and we are very interested in getting both military ballots and any state department ballots going overseas as well. host: i want to go to georgia, a republican there, bob you're on the air. caller: mr. mook try to answer